Rio Youers's Blog, page 2

Wonderland

A new short story of mine, “Vanished Summer Glory” will appear in Wonderland, an anthology of works inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane, it will be published by Titan Books on September 17th, 2019.

And the cover … I mean, whoa. It’s just beautiful. Simply excellent work by Julia Lloyd (who also designed the covers for the paperback editions of The Forgotten Girl and Halcyon. Isn’t she amazing?).

Here’s the official description from the publisher:

Join Alice as she is thrown into the whirlwind of Wonderland, in an anthology that bends the traditional notions of Lewis Carroll’s classic novel. Contributors include the bestselling M.R. Carey, Genevieve Cogman, Catriona Ward, Rio Youers and L.L. McKinney.

Within these pages you’ll find myriad approaches to Alice, from horror to historical. There’s even a Wild West tale from Angela Slatter, poetry, and a story by Laura Mauro which presents us with a Japanese folklore-inspired Wonderland.

Alison Littlewood, Cavan Scott and Catriona Ward make the more outlandish elements their own, while James Lovegrove instead draws on the supernatural. Cat Rambo takes us to a part of Wonderland we haven’t seen before and Lilith Saintcrow gives the legend a science-fiction spin. The nightmarish reaches of the imagination are the breeding ground for M.R. Carey’s visions, while Robert Shearman, George Mann, Rio Youers and Mark Chadbourn’s tales have a deep-seated emotional core which will shock, surprise and tug on the heart-strings.

So, it’s time now to go down the rabbit hole, or through the looking-glass or… But no, wait. By picking up this book and starting to read it you’re already there, can’t you see?

I’m delighted to be involved with this, and to accompany so many incredible authors. I have a feeling this anthology is going to be quite special. You won’t want to miss it.

Roll on September!

More Wonderland news as it comes in.

The Forgotten Girl UK

A reminder for all my friends and readers in the UK … Titan Books will release my novel, The Forgotten Girl, in paperback on May 14th.

Check out the full cover, front and back. It’s a thing of rare beauty, I tells ya!

In case you didn’t know, or just plum forgot, The Forgotten Girl earned rave reviews when it was released in North America in 2017. Publishers Weekly (starred review) said, “… a paranormal thriller distinguished by subtle characterizations and emotionally evocative prose … Harvey’s compelling, moving search for Sally and the truth offers everything that fans of intelligent suspense could wish for.” And Booklist (starred review) enthused, “This is a smart thriller that also explores the power of love and memory. Highly recommended.”

And yet more praise:

An absolute rocket—The Forgotten Girl is a supernatural thriller that thunders along at Mach 5 from the first page to the last. Written with a brutal lyricism, a savage wit, and a killer instinct for suspense, it’s a work that marks out Rio Youers as a big star. —Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box

A page-turner of a novel with concepts that twist your mind, characters that tug at your heartstrings, and a narrative that leaves you breathless. The Forgotten Girl is a supernatural thriller that will ensure you never forget Rio Youers. —Sarah Pinborough, New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes

Rio Youers writes with a magic all his own. The Forgotten Girl is a unique and twisted thriller, loaded with suspense but also laced with beautiful heartbreak. Youers is a rare and original voice, and I can’t wait to see what he does next! —Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Snowblind and Dead Ringers

The Forgotten Girl has everything going for it. Rio Youers has seasoned an original plot with engaging, unpredictable characters, and a totally badass villain, concocting a heady thrill-fest that will keep you turning pages into the wee hours. —F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of the Repairman Jack series

Sometimes it’s the story that thrills us. Sometimes it’s the writer. Whether we know it or not, we always want both. The Forgotten Girl gives us both … halfway through … you think, “I’d be glued to absolutely anything Youers is spinning.” —Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Black Mad Wheel

Oh, yeah … and it was also a finalist for the 2018 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel.

The Forgotten Girl is available for pre-order right now. CLICK HERE for the Amazon UK link.

More exciting stuff soon. Stay tuned!

Halcyon Blog Tour Day Eleven

 

All good things must come to an end. Except for rock ’n’ roll, of course, which will never die. But this blog tour has arrived at its conclusion. We’ve rolled our virtual tour bus across the world wide web, chalking up twenty memorable stops. I’ve discovered some excellent sites along the way, and made some new friends. Day eleven—the final day—is here. Two rockin’ venues to go. Let’s do this.

Firstly, the tour bus will screech to a halt outside Book Browsing Blog. This cool, welcoming site is headlining an extract from Halcyon. “This is one of my favourite sections from what I’ve read so far,” our wonderful host writes, “and I am so excited to be sharing it with you!” Well, I’m excited, too. Read it for yourself RIGHT HERE.

Then we’re back on the bus for our final stop. And, of course, it’s a good one: Keeper of Pages has an excellent review lined up. Honesty, there are so many pull quotes. For example:

“I definitely recommend Halcyon to fans of King, and fans of horror fiction in general.”

“Halcyon has several of what I like to call “oh shit!” moments … these are moments where the plot shocked you in a way you didn’t see coming; when the author surprises you in a way that makes things a whole lot more interesting.”

“With a title that bleeds on the cover, Halcyon is just as dark as you imagine it would be!”

“Halcyon homes in on the psychological, how the mind copes with certain events; this notion underpins the plot, and it made for a brilliant, and dark, read.”

“I enjoyed this book from cover to cover, it’s one not to be missed!”

It’s safe to say that Janel at Keeper of Pages enjoyed the novel, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Stamp your ticket for the final time and read the review RIGHT HERE.

And that’s it. The End. Fin. Eleven days. Twenty-two online venues. Truly, I’ve had a fantastic time with this. I would of course like to thank all the hard-working readers and bloggers that took part in the tour, and for their amazing work for the community, in general. I offer you all a well-deserved standing ovation. And a huge, special thanks to the team at Titan Books, in particular Cat Camacho, Lydia Gittins, and Philippa Ward, who put all of this together.

Okay, I’m out of here. Keep on rockin’.

Halcyon Blog Tour Day Ten

 

Two days of the crazy blog tour to go. We’ve trashed virtual hotels, we’ve downed hard liquor like misunderstood poets, we rocked out some songs and lost an entire corpse. But we’ve also touched down in some great places. Reviews, interviews, guest posts, excerpts, and giveaways. It’s been real.

Day ten. We’re tearing across the Internet, the driver playing Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” at bone-rattling volume (no one is complaining). Another bottle of Jack is doing the rounds, but I—the consummate professional—have my mind on the first stop: Literary Wisdom. (An unusual venue for a ragtag bunch of ne’er-do-wells like us. It reminds me of that scene in The Blues Brothers when Jake, Elwood, and the band show up at that country and western bar.) They have a review set up on the main stage. See if I manage to impart any wisdom, literary or otherwise, RIGHT HERE.

The second stop of the day takes us to Bookslovereaders, who shine a spotlight on Halcyon with another review, this one earning a respectable four stars. “I thoroughly enjoyed this book,” says Steph. “Rio Youers’s descriptions were so realistic and at times made me gasp out loud.” Well, if I don’t evoke at least one gasp per book, I’m not doing my job. Read the full review HERE.

We’re taking the weekend off. Recovery time. We’ll be back on Monday 12th for the final two stops of the tour. Hope to see you there!

Halcyon Blog Tour Day Nine

 

We trashed the virtual hotel in Cyber Town last night. The crew got wasted and lost their shit. TVs and mattresses were flung from windows. Empty JD bottles were thrown against the wall. Our virtual stage manager stole a horse from a nearby field and rode it into the swimming pool. (The horse couldn’t get out and it was still there this morning, standing in the shallow end and looking mighty pissed off.) Six groupies were arrested; their enthusiasm for books was no defense. The virtual manager of the hotel kicked us out at 3 a.m. and handed me a five-figure bill. I’ll forward it to my people at Titan when the blog tour wraps.

File it under Rock ’n’ Roll!

Day nine of the Halcyon blog tour. Nursing our hangovers but still determined to put on a damn good show, we clock up yet more Internet miles on our way to Divine World of Books. I hope they have Aspirin to go along with their wonderful review of Halcyon. Beth writes: “The perfect horror story… will both thrill you and terrify you!” Very nice, Beth. Thanks! Read the full review RIGHT HERE.

Then we burn rubber toward one of my favorite horror sites on the Internet, the number one-ranked Ginger Nuts of Horror, who are kindly hosting my guest post, “The Tonight Show, Starring … You!” (And yes, it’s as crazy as it sounds.) It’s great to be appearing on this site; I know Jim McLeod at GNoH a little bit, and I think he’s partial to a drink or two. If we don’t make it out of there quickly, things could really get messy. It wouldn’t surprise me if Jim didn’t jump on the virtual tour bus with us and rock and roll this thing all the way to the end. But before any of that happens, check out my guest post HERE.

Day ten tomorrow. The penultimate day of the tour. Hope you can join us.

Halcyon Blog Tour Day Eight

 

We’re still rolling. The end is admittedly in sight, but we have four days and eight stops to go. The mood on the bus is upbeat. It’s been rock and roll all the way—so many great blogs, so many killer reviews—and we’re not letting up. I think it’s only going to get wilder, in fact. The virtual tour manager has let a whole load of virtual groupies ride the bus with us. They’re going crazy right now, showing me their Halcyon tattoos, quoting their favorite sentences. Man, I love this job.

Our first stop today takes us to Book Lovers Boudoir. Sounds like a cozy little place. I hope the crew behave themselves, especially as this wonderful little blog has a five-star review lined up for us. “I really, really, totally and completely loved this book,” Pamela writes. “It’s one of the most intense books I’ve read in ages.” Walk single-file up the crooked staircase, knock gently on the door, and ENTER HERE.

Then we hit the road again, singing songs and drinking booze, and we won’t stop until we reach our second destination: Kendall Reviews. These guys really know their horror,  so I’m delighted to sit in the spotlight and answer their questions . You can check out the interview RIGHT HERE.

I feel like I could sleep for a week, but I’m not rocked out yet. Drop by tomorrow, when the blog tour hits day nine.

Halcyon Blog Tour Day Seven

 

We were all in a pretty good space after the two virtual gigs yesterday. We had a few drinks then jumped back on the bus, and as we carved a route across the world wide web, I grabbed my acoustic guitar and jammed out a few tunes. Soon we were all singing, even the virtual driver. I got some of the chords wrong, and forgot too many of the words, but nobody cared. We had a moment and it felt fine.

We take that good vibe into the seventh day of the blog tour, and our first stop is Between the Pages, where we’ll set up our gear for an outstanding five-star review. “Rio Youers is the author of a new generation of horror,” Meggan writes. “If you think you’ve seen everything in this genre, then think again …” Read the full review HERE.

Then we head on over to Damp Pebbles, where Emma is hosting an extract from Halcyon—and an intriguing little extract it is, too. If you haven’t bought a copy of Halcyon yet, if you’re still undecided, this might be a good place to whet your whistle. Here’s YOUR LINK.

More from the tour tomorrow. Until then, keep rockin’.

Halcyon Blog Tour Day Six

 

 

Day Six of the Halcyon Blog Tour dawns. The weekend is behind us, and I have to say, it was one for the ages. Our crazy driver took us on a virtual detour that involved peyote buttons, a pagan ritual, and a naked goat chase. Also, we lost the corpse of our virtual production manager. I don’t know how you lose a corpse, but yeah, we did. All we found was a piece of his jaw bone on the backseat.

I think the goats ate him.

We need to put some virtual miles between us and everything that happened at the weekend. We’ll start by motoring full-speed toward Romantic, Rebels and Reviews (another great name), where Sophie is waiting with a fantastic review. “Halcyon by Rio Youers is a real-world horror story with a paranormal edge,” Sophie writes. “It will intrigue you, hook you and thoroughly thrill you.” Dim the lights and read the entire review for yourself RIGHT HERE.

From there we’ll cruise inconspicuously to Tea With Boleyn. Now, I’m not sure how the crew will feel about tea, given we just stocked up on six crates of Jack Daniel’s (ain’t that rock and roll, baby!), but it has to be better than a naked goat chase. Also, this great blog is giving away a copy of Halcyon to one lucky reader (UK only). If this sounds like your cup of tea (you see what I did there?) head on over and leave a comment. Here’s THE LINK.

The tour continues tomorrow. Day seven. Lucky for some.

We’ll see about that.

Halcyon Blog Tour Day Five

 

The Halcyon blog tour bus continues to roll across the virtual landscape, chalking up eights stops so far, and the crew has had a great time every mile of the way—except for the virtual production manager, of course, who drowned in a swimming pool. He’s still on the backseat of the bus, smelling quite a bit now. The rest of us have moved a little closer to the front.

Eight venues down, fourteen to go. Day five has us tearing down the good ol’ information highway, en route to Reader Dad, where you can read my guest post “Halcyon Sounds,” which is all about the role music plays in my writing, and lists a few of the songs I listened to while writing Halcyon. Make your way through the turnstile and grab yourself a seat (no heckling, dammit) RIGHT HERE.

Then we’ll make a quick pit stop at the HTML Liquor Store, load up on the hard stuff, and drink like rock gods  as we roll toward Angel Wings and Petticoats (some of these blogs have wonderful names, don’t they?), who are kindly hosting an excerpt from chapter three of Halcyon. Form an orderly line HERE.

I’m sure there’ll be more trouble over the weekend. The virtual driver has been acting shifty all day and I caught him sharpening a very long knife at lunchtime. Check in on Monday the 5th. If we’re alive, we’ll hit the road again. If.

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Halcyon Blog Tour Day Four

 

The appearances yesterday went well—a guest post at Sci-Fi Bulletin, followed by a review at Madwoman in the Attic. Afterward, we cruised into Somewhereville for a kick-ass Halloween party. Someone came dressed as Mother Moon from Halcyon (I thought the two sharpened chopsticks were a nice touch). Drunk, happy, we stumbled back to our hotel, where one of our virtual technicians got into a fistfight with the manager. The police were called. We all—still dressed in our Halloween outfits—ran for the tour bus and made our getaway. The driver hooted with delight and played the theme tune to Smokey and the Bandit. Crazy days, man.

We put some miles on the clock and made it to The Tattooed Book Geek early. It’s a great place to hang out. If you’re so inclined, stop by for an excerpt from Halcyon. Here’s THE LINK.

It’s a virtual hike from there to Books, Occupation, Magic, but the trip will be worth it. Head on over for yet another great review for Halcyon. “The blurb on the back compares Youers to Koontz or King,” Kirsty writes, “and this definitely has a feeling reminiscent of The Shining/The Stand era.” High praise indeed. Check out the site for the full review. YOUR LINK.

Two more stops tomorrow. Hope you can join us.